Homemade Garlic Water Sprays

Ingredients

• The simplest recipe for a garlic water spray is simply garlic and water. Crushing some cloves of garlic in a few cups of water and leaving it overnight will transfer the pungency of the garlic to the water, creating an effective bug deterrent. You can also combine these ingredients with mineral oil, vegetable oil or a small amount of dish soap to create a brew that will immobilize the insects that it doesn't repel. Insects that get covered with oil or dish soap are unable to fly. Oil and soap also cover insect eggs and prevent them from hatching.

Technique

• Crush garlic in a garlic crusher, dice it up into tiny pieces with a knife or process it in an electric food processor along with two cups of water. The idea is to get the juices of the garlic out of the cloves. Seal the garlic and water mixture in a container and leave it for at least a day. Strain the pulp of the garlic out and mix the garlic water with a larger amount of water. The stronger you want the spray to be, the less water you should add. Put this mixture into a spray bottle and spray plant leaves top and bottom.

Benefits

• A garlic water mix will deter predatory insects from munching on your carefully propagated garden. Unlike chemical pesticides, it will accomplish this without affecting the soil, plants, vegetables, or people and animals who eat the vegetables. Pets and children often wander into gardens, and shouldn't be exposed to chemical pesticides. The worst that might happen with garlic spray is stinging eyes if someone happens to have some on their hands and wipes their eyes.

Timing

• The ideal time to spray garlic water is immediately before or just after the hatching of the particular insects you're trying to repel, followed by regular applications every few days. Just after a rain is also a good time, since the rain has probably washed off previous applications. The wet leaves will help to distribute the garlic mixture when you spray it onto them.